Some members of the Portland Charter Commission believe they should be allowed to hire their own legal counsel as well as a secretary to take notes during the 12-member board’s year of deliberations.
Commissioners spent most of Thursday’s organizational meeting, which lasted more than three hours, on adopting rules of procedure, setting future meeting dates and debating the need for outside counsel. Attorney Jim Katsiaficas was appointed by the city’s office of Corporation Counsel to serve as the commission’s legal adviser, a move that chafed some commissioners.
“Our attorney should be independent of that office,” Commissioner Zack Barowitz said. Barowitz said the commission should be permitted to pick its own legal adviser.
But some members cautioned against such a move. Dory Waxman said the process of advertising and hiring an attorney could consume valuable time that could be spent on making revisions to the charter.
“This could be opening a can of worms that could distract us from our mission,” Commissioner Marpheen Chann added.
Another point of contention at Thursday night’s meeting was the need for a secretary to take notes at commission meetings. Peter Eglinton, a member of the commission, was elected last month to serve as secretary of the commission. But some members said it was unfair for Eglinton to be taking notes during commission meetings and hearings.
“I think it’s unfair and bordering on disenfranchising to force a commissioner to take notes during a meeting,” Commission Chairman Michael Kebede said.
Kebede and a group of commissioners plan to meet with City Manager Jon Jennings in the next few days to determine whether the charter commission can hire a secretary to take notes and use $74,000 allocated by the city to pay for legal fees to hire its own attorney. The city allocated $1,000 for the commission to spend as it sees fit, Kebede said
During its first meeting last month, the commission elected Kebede as its chair and Shay Stewart-Bouley as its vice-chair to lead a yearlong review of city government, signaling that criminal justice and racial equity would be among the issues the group will seek to address over the coming year.
Commissioners plan to hold a public hearing via Zoom on July 28.
The commission was formed in response to a citizen initiative to create a public financing program for municipal candidates, but it is not confined to that subject. The group is expected to discuss giving more executive power to the elected mayor and diminishing the city manager’s power in City Hall and getting rid of at-large councilors and creating new, smaller council districts. Several candidates have said they will make racial justice and equity a centerpiece of their work.
The commission’s deadlines would be March 8, 2022, for the nine-month report and June 8, 2022, for the 12-month report to the City Council. The recommended revisions could go to voters in November 2022.
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